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<p style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0">Folks may be interested in this new report out today on the suppression of science in endangered species decisions. --Derek</p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", serif; font-size: 10pt;">For Immediate Release: December 14, 2017</span></p>
<span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"><b><span style="color:red"></span></b></span><span style="font-size: 10pt;"></span>
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", serif; font-size: 10pt;">Contact: Derek Goldman,
</span><a href="mailto:dgoldman@endangered.org"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", serif; font-size: 10pt;">dgoldman@endangered.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria", serif; font-size: 10pt;"> (406) 721-3218</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-indent:.5in"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", serif; font-size: 10pt;"> Leda Huta,
</span><a href="mailto:lhuta@endangered.org"><span style="font-family: "Cambria", serif; font-size: 10pt;">lhuta@endangered.org</span></a><span style="font-family: "Cambria", serif; font-size: 10pt;">, (202) 320-6467</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align:center" align="center"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt; font-family:"Cambria",serif">Report: Science Suppressed, Ignored Due to Political Pressure
</span></b></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align:center" align="center"><span style="font-size:14.0pt; font-family:"Cambria",serif; color:black">“How Politics Drowned Out Science for Ten Endangered Species”</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Washington, D.C. – A new report out today shows that the best available science in imperiled plant and wildlife decisions isn’t always followed, despite the requirements of the Endangered Species
Act. Pressure from politically-powerful special interests often unduly influences these decisions, undermining science and wildlife conservation, according to the Endangered Species Coalition. Now, under the Trump Administration, that pressure is worsening,
as industry officials have infiltrated the leadership positions within the agencies.</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The report, “</span><a href="http://suppressedscience.org/"><b><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Suppressed: How Politics Drowned out Science for Ten Endangered Species</span></b></a><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">”
highlights ten imperiled fish, plant and wildlife conservation decisions over the last decade in which the science was either ignored or suppressed as a result of intense special interest lobbying and influence.
</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">“Our native fish, plants and wildlife aren’t just a critically valuable part of the legacy we leave for future generations of Americans, they’re key to providing a good quality of life for
all humans right now,” said Leda Huta, executive director of the Endangered Species Coalition. “But we are concerned that the prevalence of special interest, industry representatives inside the Trump Administration is intensifying the suppression of science
in endangered species decisions.” </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The stifling of science has been widespread under the Trump Administration this past year, as it slashed science budgets at NASA, NOAA, EPA, and other agencies. The Administration has also
hired industry representatives to run its agencies, pulled out of the Paris Climate Accords and deemed a scientific background unnecessary for positions that require scientific knowledge. Agency scientists
</span><a href="https://www.esa.org/esablog/ecology-in-policy/policy-news-november-9-2017/#muzzling"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">have been silenced</span></a><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">, and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt
</span><a href="http://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/363626-scott-pruitts-year-of-environmental-destruction"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">has consistently rolled back</span></a><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> science-based rules
in favor of polluters. </span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><b><u><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Endangered Species Protections Thwarted</span></u></b></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Four species in the report – the
<b>wolverine, greater sage grouse, dunes sagebrush lizard</b> and the <b>Hermes copper butterfly</b> – were denied protection under the Endangered Species Act, in spite of massive, historic population declines and severe threats to the species. And just last
week, the Trump Administration denied listing for four more imperiled species (on top of the 29 others denied protection under the Act this past year).
</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Another, the <b>
North Atlantic right whale</b> – threatened by ship strikes, fishing gear entanglement, and seismic energy exploration – would have benefited from a decision to deny six seismic oil exploration permits. However, the Trump Administration has reversed that decision
in an effort to expand drilling in the Atlantic.</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Late last month, the Trump Administration finalized a recovery plan for the
<b>Mexican wolf</b>, one of the most endangered mammals in North America. The plan ignored the scientific recommendations of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’ own Mexican Wolf Recovery Team, calling for a minimum population of only half the number of wolves
that the scientists recommended. </span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Another rare and endangered Southwest U.S. species in the report – the
<b>ocelot</b> – is threatened with increased habitat fragmentation as a result of President Trump’s proposed border wall. The border wall would obstruct essential migration routes, not only for the ocelot, but for an estimated 90 other imperiled species.
</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Two other water-dwelling species in the report were also victims of science suppression, including the
<b>pallid sturgeon</b> and the <b>Pacific leatherback sea turtle.</b> One of the largest reptiles in the world, the leatherback can journey more than 10,000 miles between habitats. This past June, the Trump administration withdrew a proposed regulation on drift
gillnets (used to catch swordfish) in response to persistent lobbying from the commercial fishing industry.
</span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">In 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to list the
<b>greater sage grouse</b> as endangered, citing an unprecedented region-wide habitat conservation effort, tied to state and federal conservation plans. However, Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke is threatening to undo even these modest, bi-partisan conservation
measures. Meanwhile, sage grouse numbers have declined by 90 percent from historic levels. Protecting
<i>umbrella species</i> like sage grouse conserves habitats on which many other species rely, like mule deer and pronghorn.
</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Endangered Species Coalition’s member groups nominated species for the report. A committee of distinguished scientists reviewed the nominations, and decided which species should be included
in the final report. The full report, along with a slideshow and additional species information can be viewed and downloaded at
</span><a href="http://SuppressedScience.org"><b><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">http://SuppressedScience.org</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">.
</span></b><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"></span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> </span></p>
<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">The Endangered Species Coalition produces a “Top 10” report annually, focusing on a different theme each year.
</span><a href="http://www.endangered.org/campaigns/annual-top-ten-report"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">Previous years’ reports</span></a><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif"> are also available on the Coalition’s website.</span></p>
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<p class="x_MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align:center" align="center"><span style="font-family:"Cambria",serif">###</span></p>
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